In the following excerpt, Blackmore discusses the military paradigm in which Ender must operate to survive.

Ender lives in a military paradigm which assumes humans are malleable, controllable objects.

Control resides in large institutions, not individuals or parochial units The military paradigm abides by a strict utilitarian philosophy in which ends overcome any and all means; human costs are unimportant. Within the paradigm is an accepted paradox that the individual must be sacrificed in order to maintain the rights of other individuals. Because it accepts its own built-in flaws, the military paradigm is extremely robust. Graff lectures Ender: "The Earth is deep, and right to the heart it's alive, Ender We people only live on the top, like the bugs that live on the scum of the still water near the shore" Graff's aerial view distances him from the unpleasant decisions he must make if the war...